Things have spiraled out of control ever since last week.
Captain Luffy and the resistance fighters — captured.The rendezvous at Habuminato Port — exposed.Our hopes for a clean escape — shattered.
Lucky for us, Yasuie covered for our blunder... but he paid for it with his life.His execution hit the resistance harder than any of us could've expected — it gutted them. The morale we fought to build was crumbling fast, and all of Wano seemed to sink deeper into despair.
This whole damn mess is rattling inside my skull like a blade needing to be drawn. I can feel the stress simmering under my skin, coiling tighter with every second. If I don't cool off soon, I might just lose it.Booze.Yeah, some sake might be the only thing keeping me sane right now.
Since Luffy got locked up, it's fallen on us to come up with a plan — and fast.Browgoro's holed up at the safe house. Brook's taken care of keeping the place hidden; civilians and Orochi's guards steer clear thanks to rumors of a haunting spirit.Perks of having a talking skeleton in the crew — never thought I'd say that.
The snow was starting to fall again as I made my way into a small, crooked shop tucked between the crumbling buildings. The scent of old wood and brewed rice filled the air — nostalgic and warm.
I strode over to the counter, where an elderly man with a back bent from years of work greeted me with a toothy smile.
"Old man, how much for two bottles of sake?" I asked, voice gruff from the cold air biting at my throat.
He chuckled, wiping his hands on a stained rag. "Fifteen silvers, young sir."
I tossed him twenty without hesitation. "Keep the change," I said, earning a grateful bow from the old timer.
Outside, the cold snapped at my skin as I made my way toward Ringo — the northern cemetery.The place was practically a ghost town, swallowed by endless white mist and layers of thick, untouched snow. Massive gravestones jutted from the earth like frozen sentinels, forgotten by time.
At the heart of the graveyard sat a small, rotting cottage. Our safe house.Free food came courtesy of the offerings the villagers left behind each week — terrified by the "ghost" that roamed these lands.Brook, wearing his tattered white robe, arrows sticking out of his frame, and a tattered headband across his skull, looked every bit the spirit of a vengeful samurai.He played the part a little too well, honestly.
I slid open the wooden door with a low creak, stepping inside.
Sanji and Brook were already seated cross-legged on the tatami floor, the flickering flame of a lantern casting long shadows across their faces.
"You're late, moss head," Sanji said, scowling. He wore a yellow-and-white striped yukata, cigarette dangling from his lips, ash crumbling onto the floor. His voice carried that usual bite of annoyance he reserved just for me.
I grunted in response, tossing the sake bottles onto the table between us.
"You're late indeed, Roronoa-san! I've been sitting here so long my nonexistent legs are starting to ache! Yo-ho-ho-ho!" Brook chimed in, laughing in that rattling way only he could.
Before I could even sit down, a low voice cut through the room like a blade.
"Is this everyone? Where's Nami, Robin, and the others?"The question came from the corner where a figure leaned against the wall — komuso hat shadowing most of his face, black yukata draping his tattooed body.
Trafalgar D. Law.
Calm, serious... dangerous.
"They're busy," I replied. "Nami, Chopper, and the Akazaya Nine are tracking down Luffy's exact location. The rest are laying low after the Port disaster."
Law's mouth tightened. His hands remained still at his sides, but tension rippled through him.
"Luffy... after he got flattened by Kaido..." I continued, voice low. "They threw him in prison.But —" I raised a hand — "we found intel. We know where he is. And we plan to take over the prison, turn it into our foothold."
Law closed his eyes briefly, exhaling a breath that fogged the chilly air. Relief? Maybe.
But then his eyes snapped open, sharp and cold. "Why do we always have to save that idiot?" he muttered.
Sanji, scowling deeper, leaned back against the wall, tapping his cigarette into a battered ashtray.
"And why are we stuck running errands?" he grumbled. "I thought this was about beating Kaido, not babysitting Luffy!"
Law's voice dropped, cutting through the room like a whip."This isn't about Luffy. Not entirely."
He slammed his palm down on the low table, rattling the sake bottles.
"There's rumor," he said, voice low and dangerous, "about a Poneglyph hidden in the mountains near here.If Kaido gets his hands on it... we lose everything."
Me and Sanji sighed together, like two prisoners hearing their death sentence.Brook, meanwhile, just sipped his tea daintily, utterly unbothered.
No choice.Mountains, here we come.
Days later...
We trekked deep into the mountains, cold slicing through our clothes like knives.The place was crawling with samurai loyal to Orochi, but none of them gave us much trouble.Their bodies lay strewn behind us, buried quickly under falling snow to hide the trail.
Finally, we reached the mouth of a jagged cave system, darkness yawning before us like the mouth of some ancient beast.The inside was worse — endless tunnels winding through frozen rock, darkness so thick it felt like a second skin.
Brook tripped at least three times, nearly plummeting into a bottomless pit once. Only Sanji's quick reflexes saved him.
Hours passed.
Cold seeped into my bones. My patience frayed to the edge.
"This is bull," I muttered, my breath puffing white clouds. "We've been wandering for hours. Maybe it was just a rumor after all."
Frustrated beyond reason, I picked a tunnel at random and sprinted ahead.
The ground cracked beneath me without warning —CRACK!
"ZORO!" Sanji's voice echoed after me.
I barely had time to brace before I plummeted through the floor, snow and ice rushing past in a dizzying blur.Luck — or maybe just stubbornness — saw me land in a thicket of bushes that cushioned the fall.
My head spun like a compass gone mad.
"Oi, moss-head, you alive down there?" Sanji's voice floated from the hole above.
I groaned, clutching my aching skull. "Yeah, barely..."
And then —my eyes landed on it.
Right there, half-buried in the earth under faint, ethereal light —was a massive slab of stone, carved with ancient script that practically hummed in the air.
A Poneglyph.
"LAW! BROOK! PERVERTED COOK! GET DOWN HERE, NOW!" I roared, adrenaline surging through me.
Sanji and Law jumped down with grim faces.Brook, somehow, arrived using a ladder that... I swear wasn't there a second ago.
"Where did you even get that ladder?" I muttered.
"Yo-ho-ho! Trade secret, Roronoa-san!" he chuckled, unhelpfully.
We stood there, all four of us, staring up at the monolithic stone.The ancient runes almost seemed to whisper in the still air.
"I told you," I said, smirking proudly. "Leave it to luck."
Law huffed a dry, almost reluctant laugh, rubbing his thumb against the hilt of Kikoku. "For once... you're right."
But then Brook stiffened, pointing with one bony hand.
"Umm... Not to alarm you, but... is it supposed to be glowing?"
He was right.The Poneglyph's surface was now pulsing with an eerie, blood-red light, painting the entire cavern in a sinister glow.
The ground beneath my feet shifted — and then vanished.
"SHIT—!"
I plunged downward, the world blurring around me, gravity wrenching me toward an unseen earth.
I crashed through thick canopy, twigs slashing at my skin, before finally slamming into a deep river with a violent splash.
Cold water stole the breath from my lungs as I clawed my way to the surface, gasping.
For a moment, I floated there — stunned — staring up at the broken trees and sheer cliffs overhead.
No sign of Sanji.No sign of Law.No sign of Brook.
Where the hell were they?
Where the hell was I?
And more importantly —Since when was there a freakin' river in these mountains?!
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I dragged my drenched body onto the muddy riverbank, coughing up water and gasping for air like a man who just clawed his way out of death itself. My body felt like it had been crushed by a thousand boulders. I spat out a mouthful of river water and rolled onto my back, glaring up at the misty grey sky.
"Just my luck," I muttered bitterly, running a hand through my soaking wet green hair. "If I was a Devil Fruit user, I'd already be floating face down like a damn corpse."
I sat up slowly, my clothes clinging to me like a second skin. My beloved bottles of sake—gone, swallowed by the depths of the river. I could feel my blood boiling with frustration. I clenched my fists and pounded the dirt once, cursing the bad fortune.
The only thing that have him hope in the dark, his beloved booze, his Hail Mary had sunk deep in the shitty river. Great, the only thing that gave me happiness and joy got taken away from me! Goddamit its not even the first chapter and its already gone?! Fuck you, author!
"Tch. Damn it all..."
Peeling off my soaked haori and yukata, I worked quickly to gather some dry sticks and brush. A little spark from the old flint tucked inside my sash, and soon enough, I had a modest campfire crackling. I huddled close to it, letting the flames lick the cold from my bones. The thick fog around me swirled like living ghosts, whispering against the trees.
This... this wasn't exactly the worst thing I'd been through, but hell, it was close. My body was bruised, my mind a haze, and I had no clue where the hell I even was. A thick forest, fog choking every inch of space, no familiar sounds of cities or villages... it was like I'd stumbled into another world.
Leaning against a thick old tree, I let the fire's warmth lull me. My mind wandered aimlessly: Was all of that real? The Poneglyph... the light... the fall...? It almost felt like a dream, but the dull ache in my muscles told me otherwise.
Maybe this was all just some weird nightmare. But can you drown in your own dream? I chuckled bitterly to myself.
I let those useless thoughts drift away. Sleep tugged at me hard, and before I knew it, I was snoring loud enough to scare off wild animals.
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The full moon rose high above the misty forest, casting an eerie silver light across the land. The temperature dropped sharply, the air turning ice-cold. Beneath the moon's gaze, two figures emerged from the gloom, their twisted forms almost blending with the fog.
Predators.
Demons.
Their eyes glowed faintly red in the darkness, filled with an insatiable hunger.
"There it is... after all these damn hours," rasped the first one, a skinny demon named Jin. His skin stretched tightly over his bones, and his claws twitched with excitement. Drool slid down his chin.
He was shirtless, wearing nothing but tattered black pants and old wooden sandals. His bones protruded sharply under his skin, making him look almost skeletal.
Behind him, a towering figure crossed his arms impatiently. Kuro — a hulking brute of a demon with jagged tattoos crawling up his arms and neck like dark vines. His muscles bulged under a dirty black yukata, his fangs bared in annoyance.
"Back off, Jin," Kuro growled, voice low and dangerous. "That human's mine. I spotted him first."
Jin sneered, his claws scraping together with an ugly sound. "Like hell! First come, first serve, Kuro. You're too slow anyway, old man."
The tension crackled between them like a storm ready to break. But hunger gnawed at them harder than pride. Their stomachs twisted painfully. It had been weeks since they last tasted human flesh. The rumor of demons haunting this forest had scared off travelers, leaving the two desperate, weakened.
Without warning, Jin lunged forward with a savage screech, aiming to take the prize for himself. His claws flashed in the moonlight, slicing the air as he pounced toward the slumbering swordsman.
"Idiot, wait—!" Kuro shouted, realizing too late.
Because now, he noticed it.
The three swords lying casually beside the man. The faint but unmistakable aura rolling off him, heavier than any fog.
That wasn't just any human.
He was a slayer.
"He's a Demon Slayer, you moron!" Kuro barked.
But Jin was too far gone, hunger clouding all his sense.
Just as Jin's claws were about to tear into his throat, the sleeping man cracked open one eye.
A single, lazy eye that carries weight within.
"Yare-yare daze... just let me sleep, damn it," Zoro muttered groggily.
Jin's entire body locked up mid-pounce. Fear, raw and instinctive, flooded him. For the first time in years, Jin—the predator—felt like prey.
Zoro stood up with a sigh, grabbing one of his swords with casual grace. The firelight glinted off the blade, reflecting in his eye like a predator just waking up.
"You lost or something?" he asked, yawning mid-sentence, like he was just annoyed by a buzzing mosquito.
Jin, trembling but desperate, roared and lunged.
Zoro barely even moved. His blade flicked once—clink—parrying Jin's first claw swipe effortlessly. Jin snarled, slashing wildly again, but every strike was batted away with infuriating ease. Jin is infuriated. This guy is barely taking it seriously!
Clang! Clang!
And then—
Shhhnk!
A sharp line traced across Jin's torso. Then another across his ankle. Jin stumbled back, bleeding heavily—but to Zoro's mild surprise, the wounds began stitching themselves back together.
"Regeneration, huh?" Zoro mused aloud, tilting his head. "That's a neat trick." Zoro is slightly curious. Regeneration? What kind of Devil Fruit does this guy owned? From the looks of it, its got to be Zoan. Zoro's guess is far from what he thought.
Jin grinned wickedly, baring bloodstained teeth. "Fool! Only a decapitation or sunlight can kill me! You're nothing but food to me!"
Zoro's lips curled into a grin so devilish it made Jin take a half step back.
"Thanks for the info."
With that, Zoro shifted into a stance so swift, so lethal, the air itself seemed to hold its breath.
"Ittoryu Iai: Shishi Sonson."
The world blurred.
Before Jin could blink, his head was already rolling off his shoulders, his body disintegrating into ash. His final thought was a simple one:
I never even stood a chance.
Kuro, watching from the shadows, bolted without hesitation.
"Monster... MONSTER!" he howled, tearing through the woods as fast as his legs would carry him. Trees whipped past him in a blur. His heart thundered against his ribs.
But the forest was deathly silent.
Too silent.
He risked a glance back—
And saw Zoro standing calmly, sword sheathed, a smirk tugging at his lips.
"I thought you guys wanted a fight," Zoro called casually.
Kuro screamed, pumping his legs faster. But it was useless.
Zoro's sword moved in a slow, almost lazy swing.
"Ittoryu Sanjuuroku Pound Hou."
A blade of compressed air, shaped like a flying bullet, tore through the mist.
WHOOOSH—THUNK!
Kuro's head toppled from his shoulders. His body crumpled to the ground, dissolving into dust a moment later, scattered by the gentle night breeze.
Zoro exhaled, wiping the blade clean against his sleeve before sliding it back into its sheath with a satisfying click.
"Tch. Bunch of weaklings," he muttered under his breath.
But he knew better than to let his guard down completely. If there were two demons here, there could be more. This was clearly hostile territory.
Suddenly—a scream.
A woman's voice, shrill with terror, cut through the fog like a dagger. Zoro's eye snapped toward the sound instantly, every muscle in his body tensing.
Without wasting another second, he sprinted toward the source of the scream. His instincts, sharpened from years of battle, guided him perfectly through the twisted trees and heavy mist.
For once...
Zoro isn't lost